Newbie, Ideas for photoshoot?

I know you mentioned you can afford fancy lenses etc..but d consider if you are going to buy and develop a lot of film you are going to spend a lot on that so in the medium term you may do well to get a 2nd hand DSLR. R U in the UK?
Honestly you have some nice composition in your shots
 
Thank you. It's lovely hearing people say that who know what they're talking about. :D

I did originally want a DSLR and had a pretty cheap one in mind for a starter, but after a few months was still no where near being able to buy it so I bought this one instead for now. I will definitely be upgrading as soon as possible. :D Yes I'm in the UK.

One more question. I don't know if anyone will be able to help me, I've yet to find someone who has, or even has heard about, my camera lol. It's a Cosina C1. I've been searching google for hours and I can't find out how to set the ISO.

It's currently set at 200 (which is too low for indoors?) and I can tell it's possible to change it (on the dial with the shutter spped numbers, there a tiny hole with ISO on it, with what looks like another tiny dial to change it) but I can't figure out how to change it. And this is supposed to be an easy camera to figure out! lol
 
I understand shutter speed completely so it's just aperture and all it's numbers and ISO I need to learn there. lol

the aperure and shutter speed kinda work together (if no-one else has mentioned)
if you have a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second, and an aperture of f/8, I think (dont quote me) it has the same exposure as 1/60th of a second and f/11 :D

if that helps at all?
 
Thank you. It's lovely hearing people say that who know what they're talking about. :D

I did originally want a DSLR and had a pretty cheap one in mind for a starter, but after a few months was still no where near being able to buy it so I bought this one instead for now. I will definitely be upgrading as soon as possible. :D Yes I'm in the UK.

One more question. I don't know if anyone will be able to help me, I've yet to find someone who has, or even has heard about, my camera lol. It's a Cosina C1. I've been searching google for hours and I can't find out how to set the ISO.

It's currently set at 200 (which is too low for indoors?) and I can tell it's possible to change it (on the dial with the shutter spped numbers, there a tiny hole with ISO on it, with what looks like another tiny dial to change it) but I can't figure out how to change it. And this is supposed to be an easy camera to figure out! lol

The ISO is not something you can change on the camera, it is the film that determines the ISO. Good general purpose film would be ISO 100 for outdoors, ISO 200 indoors with a fast 50mm lens (but you don't have one), and ISO 400 indoors with zoom lens.

I don't know if your camera supports DX coding. If it does, the ISO indication should automatically be the ISO of the film you put in. Otherwise, you will have to manually set the ISO. I'm just guessing, but try lifting the shutter speed dial a bit and then turning it*. That's how you set the ISO in my old Pentax.

*Only do this if your cam doesn't support DX coding.

Now the Cosina C1 is a relatively unknown camera that very few use. How much did you pay for yours? I hope you didn't pay much because it is probably not compatible with recent lenses. You don't have to get a DSLR really. A good film SLR from a respectable company (like Nikon, Canon, or Pentax) would also be a good upgrade. Film can give much better image quality than digital if you have a good lens. However, make sure any cam you get in the future is from a current "system". Cosina SLRs are long dead (they aren't produced anymore). You'll be hard-pressed to find anything that works with our cosina properly.
 
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the aperure and shutter speed kinda work together (if no-one else has mentioned)
if you have a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second, and an aperture of f/8, I think (dont quote me) it has the same exposure as 1/60th of a second and f/11 :D

if that helps at all?

Aah ok. So does the photo looks over/under exposed if I match the numbers up wrong? Like f22 with 1/2000, what would that do to the photo? And f3.5 with 1/1?

The ISO is not something you can change on the camera, it is the film that determines the ISO. Good general purpose film would be ISO 100 for outdoors, ISO 200 indoors with a fast 50mm lens (but you don't have one), and ISO 400 indoors with zoom lens.

I don't know if your camera supports DX coding. If it does, the ISO indication should automatically be the ISO of the film you put in. Otherwise, you will have to manually set the ISO. I'm just guessing, but try lifting the shutter speed dial a bit and then turning it*. That's how you set the ISO in my old Pentax.

*Only do this if your cam doesn't support DX coding.

Now the Cosina C1 is a relatively unknown camera that very few use. How much did you pay for yours? I hope you didn't pay much because it is probably not compatible with recent lenses. You don't have to get a DSLR really. A good fim SLR from a respectable company (like Nikon, Canon, or Pentax) would also be a good upgrade. Film can give much better image quality than digital if you have a good lens. However, make sure any cam you get in the future is from a current "system". Cosina SLRs are long dead (they aren't produced anymore). You'll be hard-pressed to find anything that works with our cosina properly.

So indoors with no very good lighting, I should get ISO400 exp films?

I lifted the shutter speed dial and I could change the ISO, thank you! It was driving me mad lol.

It was only ÂŁ19 on ebay so not much. I wouldn't pay a lot for a camera unless I know it inside out lol. It has a Chinon zoom lens at the minute and is a K mount? Something like that. Does that mean most lenses will fit?
 
I did some research and I found out that your Cosina is compatible with old Pentax lenses. :)
Go pick up a Pentax SMC-A 50mm f/2 in perfect condition for 20 pounds or less. Have fun! Its a good lens that costs next to nothing. I have 2 of them. I bought 1 for $50 CAD (Canadian dollars) and got a second with a K1000 body for just $13 (the shop had a bundle special). The good thing is that if you buy a Pentax camera body next, be it a film SLR or DSLR, your existing lenses will work fine on your future camera.
 
Aah ok. So does the photo looks over/under exposed if I match the numbers up wrong? Like f22 with 1/2000, what would that do to the photo? And f3.5 with 1/1?
Yes, if it is over/under exposed, you picked the wrong numbers. The light meter in you camera should help you pick the right numbers. Now, just to let you know, you never do f/22 and 1/2000. You use a small f number (like f/3.5) with a short shutter speed (like 1/1000 or 1/2000), or a big f number (like f/16 or f/22) with a long shutter speed (like 1/2). If you chose to double the shutter speed (eg. from 1/30 to 1/60), you must multiply the f number by 1.4 (eg. from f/4 to f/5.6).


So indoors with no very good lighting, I should get ISO400 exp films?
Yes. ISO 400 is what you need for indoor photography with a zoom lens.


One more thing: I think you've actually got a fairly good body because it is basically a more recent (and cheaper built) version of the venerable Pentax K1000 (that's I have) that costs a fraction of the price. Your lens is... well... not the greatest :p but the body will accept all Pentax SMC-M and SMC-A lenses, so you've got a sort of "system" camera already. You've got plenty of room to grow :)
 
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Yes, if it is over/under exposed, you picked the wrong numbers. The light meter in you camera should help you pick the right numbers. Now, just to let you know, you never do f/22 and 1/2000. You use a small f number (like f/3.5) with a short shutter speed (like 1/1000 or 1/2000), or a big f number (like f/16 or f/22) with a long shutter speed (like 1/2). If you chose to double the shutter speed (eg. from 1/30 to 1/60), you must multiply the f number by 1.4 (eg. from f/4 to f/5.6).

What is the light meter? Are they the led lights in the viewfinder? If so, I don't know what they mean. There's three of them.

I've just tried a shot with my daughter next to a window with the lights off and a bit of light from outside shining on her face. I used (I think, if I've remebered correctly) f16 and 1/60. That woudl have focused just on her wouldn't it? And would this get the effect of her kind of in a shadow with about 2/3's of her face showing and a very dark, if not black, background?

That was the effect I was going for, I'm not sure if I did it right?

Yes. ISO 400 is what you need for indoor photography with a zoom lens.

One more thing: I think you've actually got a fairly good body because it is basically a more recent (and cheaper built) version of the venerable Pentax K1000 (that's I have) that costs a fraction of the price. Your lens is... well... not the greatest :p but the body will accept all Pentax SMC-M and SMC-A lenses, so you've got a sort of "system" camera already. You've got plenty of room to grow :)
That's brilliant. I'll be getting the Pentax lens you mentioned asap. I'm watching a few on ebay and they're quite cheap so shouldn't be a problem. Thank you.
 
without seeing the lighting it's hard to say if you got it right with that picture BUT I'd say you probably wouldn't be far off. F16/125th is a reasonably typical flash setting for that kind of shot so as you were using 'a bit of natural light' I think it's fair to say would be less light than a flash so 60th second reflects that. If I was to guess I'd expect it to be a touch under exposed but my guess would only be 1 stop out which can probably be rescued in post processing.
 
What is the light meter? Are they the led lights in the viewfinder? If so, I don't know what they mean. There's three of them.

Yes, the lights in the viewfinder are the light meter indicators. To use the light meter, adjust the exposure settings (aperture and shutter speed) till the middle light lights up. If the bottom light is on, you need to extend the exposure so pick a slower shutter speed or a larger aperture (SMALLER f number). If the top light is on, do the opposite. I assume the lights are vertical out on your cosina.
 

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